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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Serena Williams was down and out again but, in typical fashion, escaped to reach the semifinals in Oz.

The 3-time champ lost the first set and was down a break but still managed to toppleSvetlana Kuznetsova 5-7, 7-5, 6-1. Sveta actually served for the match at 5-3 but an aggressive ReRe broke back and the rest, as they say, was history. She'll look to end a 3-match skid to current nemesis Elena Dementieva, who subduedVenus' conqueror Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2, when the pair meet in the semifinals.

The 26-year old was asked about what she was feeling while the Russian was serving for the match:

Q. When your opponent is serving for the match, can you give us an idea what you're thinking at that point? Do you think she's going to be nervous? What are you feeling?SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I was thinking, Okay, if you lose, you're going to fly coach all the way back to Florida (laughter), how uncomfortable that would be. That motivated me to do a little better.

Q. Do you fly coach?SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I do. I mean, gosh, prices have soared nowadays. I told you, I'm really economic. I wouldn't necessarily want to go back 16 hours. I wouldn't allow myself to have the emergency row either. I would be so mad, I would have to sit like the last row, the tightest row. That way I wouldn't do it again.

Will somebody book me a spot in her next post-match presser? In fact, ANY presser with ReRe will do although I'd also happily take a coach seat next to her just to get the low down on her match - how fun.

Sveta wasn't feeling too happy, obvs, and was particularly peeved about the roof situation, which was closed due to the scorching heat after the first set concluded:

Q. Some people that were in the tunnel when you came off court suggested that you were a little bit angry to have been brought off court. Is that correct?SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Well, yeah, definitely angry. Why should I not be? Game going my way. I'm fine playing with the roof. I think the guys yesterday, it was the same weather. Everybody was playing with the roof. Why today they had to close it? I didn't get it. Yeah, that was why I was angry.

Q. Who are you angry at?SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I don't know (laughter).

Q. Did you ask the referee?SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: What I have to ask them? It's the tournament, what I have to say. I'm just a player. I play. That's it. It's not in my hands, you know.

Q. Is it difficult for you and the other players to understand how the rule on heat works here?SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I didn't get the rule at all. Closing the roof middle of the match, I don't get it.

Q. Was it especially surprising for you that you started with an open roof and then during the match they closed it?SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Yeah. I mean, how you do that? I don't know. You just playing outdoor tennis, and one set you play indoor tennis. It's very good. Serena was tough. She's playing great. I give her credit. But I don't get this rule. This is it.

I agree. Even if the temperature wasn't at the minimum required level to close the roof, the forecast was calling for sky-high heat so why not just go the preventative route and close the roof before the match? Strange.

Nevertheless, Sveta served for the match in the second but couldn't close the door on ReRe. Her bad.

7 comments:

I thought it was stupid to close the roof mid-match. They knew what the weather was going to be so yeah close it before the match. A 20-minute break is a long break. It's like a new match when you come back but then again it's similar to Wimbledon rain breaks. You just have to learn to deal with it and fact is Sveta always have a tough time closing out against strong players. She's inconsistent.

I don't get the reasoning for not closing it to begin with. I know it's an outdoor tournament and the roof should be open as much as possible, but an extreme heat wave should clue them in to close the roof before the start of play.

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